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Show I Chausicey 1 Depew Reviews "Dark Horses" of Former Days I I s I A feteran of Politics Closes Hi- Memoirs I of Main Campaigns With Inside I I Faets of Stirring Epodes in Hi Which Cleveland, Harrison L and Others Figure , ' ' ' ' i j J J I f WILLIAM HOWARD TAF"T t This is the fourth and final artirlr I m a series writi M I Dcrew lor this newspaper, zivinc his I intimate recollections of the most stirnnc I ertsodes of sixteen Presidential cam- I raicns m which he has participated. His I memoirs deal with manv "dirk horses" in politit J Bv CMAUNCF.Y M. DEPEVV. I I year of 1884 was the rise above tin? political horizon of the rugged fljnire of Grovcr Cleveland. This strong thar-acier. thar-acier. with all his faults, was to become one ef our greatest Presidents. Few Inflecd have ever excelled Mr. Cleveland's indomitable courage ami slmnle patriotism. Ho had came Into prominence in 1SS2 as the principal figure of a countrywide sweep I - against tho Republican party, when In an W elf year treat defeat that was to come. Mr. Clevc- lanj that year won tho Governorship of New York by about 200.000. and so became a national figure. In the Democratic National Convention Gov Cleveland had strong opposition, particularly par-ticularly from Tammnnv, which never had the slightest use for him. and which was hotly led by John Kelly In those days. Had not Mr. Cleveland possessor! a marvellous manager In Daniel Manning he might not have carried ofT the nomination, but Pin M.irnlng wns without question one of t lie most skilful political strategists that ever planred a campaign, and in the end Cleve land troke down all opposition. Cleveland and the Plumed Knijjht. Blaine had been nominated tie previous month. His selection was certain months before-the delegates met at Chlcaco. for he rtood out head and shoulders above anv I other man. His disappointments In 1876 I and 1880 had Increased rather than low- I cred his prestige, for It was generally rcc- I ocn.?.e! that ho had been the victim of un- fair, or at least doubtful, tactlca, and th.v be had been the special target for the anl- Bl mosity of Rosooe Conkllng. Moreover, our Ii party was anvthing but united that year, Kj because President Arthur's administration had produred many quarrels over patronage. I ; 1 h situation was poor in New York State tj from a Republican standpoint. Conkllng In K' savape controversy. There was a general l feel ng that if we were Koine to win at all m It wculd have to bo through the brilliant I leadership of Blaine. I, Thrn came tho campaign with Its tragic results tragic for Mr. Blaine's ambition- He rttempted to manage his own campaign M and in this I have at way thouphl ma I I graeerror. As wonderful an organizer and I 'tr-trglst as ho was. tho strain of planning B, his cwn fight, a fight which meant so much I. to him. affectc.l his Judgment, or soemel to ml Noted for dash and decision, there were DUO-m DUO-m tits In the campaign when Blaine bel- Hf, tateo and was lost. 1 have In mind the Hj Burchard episode, inirely one of tho most extraordinarily unhappy episodes in pollt- Hl leal history. I remember tho whole mlser-1 mlser-1 l ' 'lay. HtJ Mr. BlaJne had com to New Fork at the H close of tho campaign after completing a M, wonderfully successful series of speaking H' tours. In which the people went wild over iff - ilL Thomas c platt him There was no doubt about It. He hred the country, and If the election could ii iv- been held before his fatal visit to New York illy he would have been Heeled sweeping;'. sweep-ing;'. I am confident. But it was not to be. Once more destiny Interposed Itself between Mr. Blaine and the great desire of his life The suggestion was made and promptly cor-H. cor-H. I out that a meeting of ministers of the Gospel should be held at the Fifth Avenue Ho el, the Republican temple in New York city lr those days: tho location. Indeed, of the relebrated Amen Coriler, and that these ministers, representing different denomlna-L'OQS, denomlna-L'OQS, should indorse Blaine and repudiate r Dim rnther nasty attacks that had been mad') upon his integrity. It was a sensible i : i end should have had an excellent effect, ef-fect, but when the time came for the sentiments senti-ments of the ministers to be put Into an nd-dir.v nd-dir.v of congratulation to Mr. Blaine hlm-soU hlm-soU they couldn't agree as to who should hnve the honor of making the address Then was quite some bickering over this milter until It was settled finally by giving the honor to the oldest minister present. This happened to be the Rev Dr. Burchard to whom Catholicism was abhorrent and who was utterly fanatical In his opposition la I.omanlsm. as so many entitled it. When B irebard addressed Mr- Binm he lost little tlrro In launching an attack against "Rum Romanism and rebellion." an association of term that must havo been so hateful to thousands of Catholic voters In New York ih.it one has no difficulty In estimating what this "break" cost Blunder Comprehended Too Late. The singular thing was that Blaine, at f!i-t. did not comprehend the fatal blow that had been struck him It was not until the next day ihit he issued a disclaimer, which was not nearly as strong and pointed as Urdet the circumstances It should have been, and by that time It was too late. Tho ter-i ter-i of Burchard's devastating blunder was increased by the fact that Mr Blaine's mother and sisters wero devout Catholics, and that Mr. Blaine had recently visited. In Indiana, a sister who was Mother Superior of a convent out there. Surely Burchard ost Mr. Blaine at least 1 000 votes 1 000 at the lowest possible estimate And Mr. Blaine lost the State of New York, with its 36 electoral votes, and. therefore, the election, ty Just 1.H9 popular votes. A change of leas than 600 was all that was needed to throw Cos State to Mr. Cleveland. However, there were other remarkable accidents ac-cidents which seemed to show that fate had turned her back forever upon the brilliant con of Maine. Conkllng. pursuing his tm-p1 tm-p1 i vble enmity toward Blaine, turned against him every voto he could personally control. In Oneida county. New York State. Conkllng s own county, many hundreds of Republican votes were cast for Grover Clove- : , ; if nrPiHii 3 I j j 7 ? ;? j t 4 . M ' ry? EODORE rJ j BENJAMIN HARRI50N lanu. enough to have changed the whole result re-sult in the State. There was a slngl, series of election frauds alone through which sufficient voles were diverted to Cleveland to defeat Blaine. The events and episodes of this campaign have always seemed to me to form as sad a chapter as can N recalled when one thinks of the worth of Blaine and of his bitter, bitter reverses. In the Republican convention of 1SSS and In the subsequent campaign I had the honor o' playing a leading part, the more interesting interest-ing expressions of which I xhall try to sketch lightly. Blaine's name, of course, was to the fore ns always, but few of 113 seriously believed that he could bo nominated, much less elected. He was travelling In Europe and the delegates, through personal friends of Mr. Blaine, appealed to him for a hint as to his wishes. None knew better than he. perhaps, tho futility of pursuing his ambition. ambi-tion. He had become fataltlstlc about his disappointments dis-appointments Ho had convinced himjelf tliat he never was to be President. Vet he hestltatcd. The urge was so powerful that hj could scarcely bring himself to write a positivo message of renunciation. That, however, ho finally did. freeing his friends, sti" numerous, to the consideration of other possibilities. I am afraid that I was not seriously among tl.rie in fact. I know 1 was not even though my State was pledged to me and though I received ninety-one votes. I was a very ornamental candidate for this reason. rea-son. 1 happened to bo president of the New fork CeDtral Railroad. Railroad presidents were rather less popular out among the farmers far-mers than they are now. However well I might have run in some Rastern States I cculd have made no headway In the WesU W0 Republicans met at Chicago in 1888 as UStial. and after we had slxcd up the preliminary prelim-inary situation we saw that several candidates candi-dates were dividing sentiment Tho strongest strong-est seemed to lo John Sherman of Ohio. Judge Gresham of Indiana had considerable strength. Allison of Iowa had some strength In tho West. Alger of Michigan had many frleaids There were others, for the convention conven-tion was wholly split now that Blalno was eilm'nated. The four delegates at large from New TorH were Senator Thomas C. Platt. the Rasy Boa' Senator Warner Miller. Prank rlUrock and mvself. We held a little coun-. coun-. war to decide who should recclxe New Vo k's support It was recognized that th candidate of the convention must be one wrn could carry the State of Nesv York and that without New York's electoral vote de-frai de-frai was sure. That cave the New York ' ration greatly enhance prestine and inibunco In the convention of 'S8. In our confcroni-e Senator Platt. who disliked dis-liked Sherman, suggested that when the h-.'ir came for me to announce my withdrawal with-drawal that New York throw Its support to Allison. Senator Miller disagreed, insisting that the wlsr move would be to Rive the New York votes to Sherman- Hlscock was TrEE. f a kBBBLfl . ' MARK A HA.NINA lncliiied to side with Platt. though he had no special partiality for Allison The conflict con-flict of opinion became rancorous, for Mr. Natt never liked to be opposed In a large ira'tei and Senator Miller was not without tmjer. I said nothing for two reasons. The f. rst was that New York had done me the h )no! of making me her candidate, and It Struck me as poor taste to break into the r Moderations of the leaders. Because of Piatt's aversion to Sherman and Miller's ' i :ipg to the Ohloan the conference got nn-whert'.' nn-whert'.' Finally Platt said: "Chauncey. you Laven't opened your month on this question. What have you got to say? Who's your man?" I leplied: "I have a suggestion to make 1 am positive that neither Allison nor Sherman can carry tho State of New York I believe I have a man that can. I ref-i to Gen. Harrison of Indiana. There Is alii much political prestige In a civil war record. Gen. Harrison went into the war a Second Lieutenant and came out a Brigadier-General because f successive promotions promo-tions for gallantry. He Is the leader of the bar in his State. He has made a fine record In the United Stales Senate 1 know personally per-sonally that he is one of the very ablest men in the country. His grandfather was a great fighter, and Tippecanoe and Tyler too' Is stll popular. I strongly urge him upon your consideration " How Harrison Wa Chosen. Platt and Hiscock withdrew for a private talk. Then they rejoined Senator Miller. Presently the three Informed me that they v ere In accord as regards Harrison, convinced con-vinced that he was the strongest man that could be named. We then put the question to the delegation, who agreed to take the advice of the delegates at large They unan-Ipinnslv unan-Ipinnslv adopted our recommendation as retards Gen. Harrison. On the fourth ballot bal-lot New York and Pennsylvania swung sharply to Gen. Harrison and on tho eighth he was nominated. The campaign of that year was memo, rable for courtesy and dignity, for the genera.' gen-era.' high plane adopted and maintained by the candidate and their managers. Although President Cleveland received a small majority of the popular vote he lost the pivotal States and Gen Harrison received re-ceived a large majority of the electoral vote- Tho significant feature of the election elec-tion was the defection of Tammany from the candidate of Us partv. for while the D-'nocrats elected their Governor in New York bv 20,000 Mr. Cleveland lost the State by nearly 15.000. Tammany had knifed him squarely In the Kick As the campaign of 1S92 approached President Harrison, who had offered me every post In his Cabinet, except that of Secretary of State, as well as every one of the principal diplomatic assignments, requested me to tako charge of his Interests Inter-ests at the convention. I became his lloor leader. therefore Although the "Old ' Lvl Guard,' including Matt Quay of Penneyl- Rl vanla. who had brilliantly generated Har- mBBLI rtBon's victory In -Is; Gen. Clarkaon and tbbbbh Tom Platt. had fallen, out with Harrison V and were anxious to defeat him for re- H nomination. I was morally certain that Har- nson could win easily because there was I H no alternative, no candidate upon whom 1 H the recalcitrant factions could unite. Har- R rtsdsj was not the most tactful person in K H th- world With all of his dignity and fine courtesy be nevertheless employed ft repel- I J lant attitude at time. believe Quay had t 1-een seriously offended after the victorious f battle of '88 because Gen. Harrison thanked M Providence very emphatically for his sue- I res. and I suppose that Quay bad a notion i H WILLIAM MCKINLEY t I that soma recognltl in ihould hae been extended to shrewd political leadership as H well as to Providence. Don Cameron of J Pennsylvania hadn't a great deal of use jH foi Harrison, either, and in fact few of the H leaders had ever found easy approach te H the President. H McKlnlcy Begin to Loom Up. j Mr. Blaine then In the derllne of hi? magi H nlflcent powers, was again a candidate, but J he had small support. It was recognized H even by his friends that his time was gone. No other man had yet risen to sufficient . jH stature to be considered. Early In the pro- H ceedlngs I called a caucus of delegates H willing to vote for Harrison, and the roll call H of Slates showed a clear majority. The effect of this stroke was to strengthen Har- H rlson's position with doubtful delegates who H did not care Tor Harrison, but who did not H want to be caught on a losing side The- H result, as I had foreseen, was the renomlna- H tlon of Harrison on the first and only b-illot. H This produred a new figure. William MeKin- H ley of Ohio, who received 182 votes, and who H mad iruch an lmprer!on upon the delegates H that he became from then oti the principal H figure to be eonsldred for the nomination ?.' H four In the election Mr Cleveland received a H substantial majority of the popular vote and PH .1 very large majority of the electoral vote. His unflinching antagonism toward the cheap H money craze that was beginning to take hold of the country made him very strong, and the Rertihllcan party suffered from the prcv-alonct1 prcv-alonct1 of strikes and Industrial troubles. Four years later produced the master m-rhaulc m-rhaulc of politics, Mark Ilanna of Ohio. He brought Into politics the business methods and extraordinary organization that had ESC m'io him successful In business life. For more than a year before the Convention met he was about this work of organizing Mrcngth for Major M Kinlev all over the ; Union. He wns devoted to McKlnley person-ally. person-ally. We met at St. Louis that year and tho delegates had little mire than arrived when the certainty of McKlnley's triumph was obvious Tom Ree 1 of Maine had mnnT friends, but Mark EiatUia's organization work had cut the ground from under the feet of the Czar of the House. The real fight was over free silver, and it culminated In one of f the most dramatic episodes I ever witnessed, H the sensational withdrawal from the conven- tlon of Senator Teller of Colorado, leader 'SSZ , and spokesman for the Silver Republicans. Cverwhe'mingly defeated in his effort to saddle free silver upon the party. Teller marched our of the convention, followed by j the silver cohorts thirty or forty delegates. . It was In that year that tho Rrmocratio j party fell ln!o the arms of Mr Bryan of Nebraska, who popped up ut of nowhere 1 In 1 articular to Inflame the Democrats with tH lus "cross of gold and crown of thorns'- speech and to hypnotize them with the magic r of his oratory. Bryan made a remarkable ' J I campaign, travelling and speaking with tire- XV less energy, attracting Immense crowds. He ( was received with such evidences of enthu- ; tiasrr. that many persons feared the contest would be close, much too close for comfort. Yet the result was anything but close. It went to prove that the candidate who draws tzi-c.it crowds is not necessarily capturing votes. For Bryan did not carry a State east of th. Mississippi, and he was not merely iip'n at the polls, he was routed. The country was not ready to adopt a dlshon-orabh dlshon-orabh monetary policy, and Major McKIn-benefited McKIn-benefited from this solid national con-oapl con-oapl , r .cn more than he was advantaged by his own excellent record and splendid t pers.nal qualities mm - p |